Method for a fully automated monoclonal antibody-based extended differential

Abstract

Methods for differentially identifying cells in an instrument employ compositions containing a combination of selected antibodies and fluorescent dyes having different cellular distribution patterns and specificities, as well as antibodies and fluorescent dyes characterized by overlapping emission spectra which form non-compensatable spectral patterns. When utilizing the compositions described herein consisting of fluorescent dyes and fluorochrome labeled antibodies with overlapping spectra that cannot be separated or distinguished based upon optical or electronic compensation means, a new fluorescent footprint is established. This new fluorescent footprint is a result of the overlapping spectra and the combined cellular staining patterns of the dyes and fluorochrome labeled antibodies chosen for the composition. The new fluorescent footprint results in histogram patterns that are useful for the identification of additional cell populations or subtypes in hematological disease.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 130,492, filed May 17, 2005, allowed which claims the benefit of the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 573,167, filed May 21, 2004, now abandoned.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Whole blood and peripheral blood samples from human subjects suffering from a variety of diseases can contain both blood cells or non-blood cells (e.g., tumor cells, bacteria, etc.) suspended in a liquid medium or plasma. The blood cells include red blood cells (erythrocytes or RBCs), white blood cells (leukocytes or WBCs), and platelets. Depending on the level of maturity of the cells, red cells are further classified into nucleated RBCs (NRBCs), reticulated RBCs (reticulocytes), and mature RBCs. Mature white cells fall into one of five different “normal” categories, namely, monocytes, lymphocytes, eosinophils, neutrophils and basophils. Each of the white cell ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a method for analyzing blood cells using special combinations of fluorescent dyes and antibodies. These combinations create a unique fluorescent footprint that is useful for identifying specific cell types in hematological disease. The method involves mixing the sample with a composition containing multiple fluorescent dyes and antibodies, and then measuring the sample using a cell analyzer. The resulting data is then analyzed to identify different populations of blood cells. The use of these special combinations of dyes and antibodies allows for the identification of additional cell types or subpopulations in a single biological sample.

Problems solved by technology

Conventional hematology instruments, while capable of differentiating and enumerating the vast majority of cell types and subsets normally present in a peripheral blood sample, cannot readily differentiate multiple subsets of cells in a single sample, particularly those cells that are atypical or immature.

The requirement to correlate the respective outputs of multiple transducers in order to report certain characteristics of a cell type or subset can, under certain circumstances, be problematic, in that it introduces uncertainty in the analytical results (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,631,165 and 5,565,499; see, e.g., Thomas et al., J. Histochem. Cytochem., 25(7): 827-835 (1977)).

Despite the application of these technologies, the currently available analytic systems suffer from common shortcomings, including difficulty in the performance of an accurate 5-part white blood cell differential in the presence of various atypical leukocyte populations or other abnormal conditions (cellular / non cellular) that interfere with performance of the 5-part differential.

In addition, the conditions that permit the detection of, or flagging for, the presence of atypical cell types suffer from high false positive or high false negative rates.

These shortcomings are unacceptable because they either result in an unnecessarily high manual review rate or the failure to detect clinically significant abnormalities.

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